


Blood on his Hands

by SailorSol



Category: Haven - Fandom
Genre: Background Character Death, Gen, Season/Series 04 Spoilers, The Crocker Curse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-07
Updated: 2014-03-07
Packaged: 2018-01-14 22:44:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1281547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorSol/pseuds/SailorSol
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not Duke's job to judge who lives and dies; he is simply the executioner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blood on his Hands

From the moment he touches Nathan’s blood, Duke knows something is wrong.

The rush of power is same, the heady feeling of unlimited strength and adrenaline coursing through his veins. But his nerves have gone dead; he can’t feel the texture of his clothes, the weight of his own body on his feet and while his heart pounds madly in his ears he knows what it’s like for Nathan, all the time.

And then sensation rushes back, and now is not the time to bring this up, because the baby is going to wake soon and Duke has a job to do—one more death, at his hands, to save the lives of countless others. Ben Harker is an innocent man, a better father than Simon Crocker ever could have been, and with his wife already dead, his child was about to become an orphan.

But it’s not Duke’s job to judge who lives and who dies; that’s for Audrey and Nathan to decide, and Duke to act as executioner. It’s easier this way, the blood on all their hands, at least metaphorically. Not that the blood actually stays _on_ Duke’s hands, seeping beneath his skin instead.

Ben comes inside, fetches a blanket with airplanes and hands it to Duke before meeting his eyes. Nathan’s gun is in Duke’s hands, body warm from where it rested against Nathan’s hip. After the momentary lapse of sensation, Duke notices even the most minute details, the textured grip of the handle and the easy weight as he holds the gun out in front of him, taking aim.

He squeezes the trigger without blinking, and Ben falls to the ground. Duke is far enough away that he doesn’t get any of the blood on him, but he doesn’t move until Nathan pushes his arms down, takes the gun away, and nudges Duke outside.

He wants to borrow Nathan’s Trouble again, but it won’t help, because that only stops physical sensation, and right now he’s a swirling mass of emotions on the inside. Ben Harker wasn’t Harry Nix, wasn’t even Wade Crocker, and Duke killed him anyway, a single bullet to the head just like his father had taught him with a pumpkin and a beebee gun when he’d been seven years old.

Audrey is outside, and that’s a problem in itself, because Duke saw the look on her face when she gave him his Trouble back. It’s connected to what happened with Nathan’s blood, he knows it is, but he’s not sure how, and now isn’t the time to ask. Right now they need to stop William before they lose Audrey, and whatever is wrong with Duke can wait.

And then he coughs blood and creates a circle of dead grass that he can feel withering into charred remains, and he knows he’s not far behind, and he thinks, maybe, this is what he deserves. And by the time William is gone and Jennifer isn’t breathing and Mara is demanding their compliance, it doesn’t even matter that it’s his own blood on his hands.


End file.
